Today is the first day of October, which marks the countdown to my absolute favourite time of the year, Samhain/Halloween. For the last couple of years, my Ruinhunting activities tend to die off during the month, mainly due to poor weather and access to many of the sites that I visit. But I keep my blog going with an assortment of the otherworld and Halloween Themed posts. The Bram Stoker Festival has featured these past two years along with Irish based tales concerning Gaelic Mythology and Supernatural customs and Traditions such as An Púca, the faerie Ghost, the Bean-sidhe an Irish harbinger of Sorrow , An Dullahan, the real Headless Horseman, Dearg-Due, an ancient Irish Vampire and the Wizard Earl of Kilkea Castle to name but a few.

An Púca

So this year got me thinking, with the success of the Capturing History Challenge, I thought, Why not run a special ‘Spooktakular Challenge’ just for Samhain/Halloween on Oct 31st. What I am hoping for, is that as many readers as possible will submit an image to the challenge that has a Spooky connection or history associated too it. This can be anything you want it to be from a Haunted House, A Vampire’s Castle, a Witches Lair etc, etc. So on the 31st I will post all the submitted images and links back to you own website or blog and I would like you to post a piece on the history or story behind your image on the same day. As part of this year’s celebrations Im really hoping that this will be a huge success and Im looking forward to reading tales from all around the world.

Dearg Due

So just like the regular Capturing History Challenge:

All images must have been taking by you, there is no time restriction on this and you retain the copyright for your images

Images should be submitted via email by no later than midnight GMT on the Monday 26th Oct, so I can ensure the challenge is ready to be posted on the Saturday morning. My email address is as always edmooneyphotography@gmail.com

You don’t have to even have to be a WordPress blogger. This SPOOKTAKULAR challenge is open to everyone, please include your name and a link back to your blog, website or social media page.

Images should be kept at low resolution with the largest side at 1000 pixels or less, if you need help with this you can pm me.

Once the challenge is published I will delete all files and mails from that week.

Each contributor should please write a piece about their image and its spooky history on their blog, for readers to check out.

Dont believe that for a second mate, Ireland and England are almost identical and share very similar customs and history. Every town has at least one spooky tale or history.
And if it doesnt then I would suspect something sinister to be going on!!!! LOL

Ok Pete, You are a GUMP, 🙂
I agree, Samhain has become far too commercialized andtaken over by the Americans, partly due to the amount of Irish whom emigrated there. But here in Ireland it is so much more, its really a new year celebration. Two years ago I got to celebrate it just like our ancient ancestors did.https://edmooneyphoto.wordpress.com/2013/11/06/dark-moon-samhain/
As for all the spooky stuff, its just an excuse to endulge in something that appeals to my dark side.
Forget about all that commercial aspect, when we were kids, all we got were monkey nuts and if we were really lucky a few grapes. Costumes were a black bin liner an soot from the fire place rubbed on your face.
Im vibing a scrooge moment here, perhaps a visit from the ghosts of Halloween past might warm you up to the idea 🙂

I know it means a lot to traditionalists too, Ed. Just having my usual grumble about hijacking of history, and too much commercialisation. I hope you and the kids have a great night!
Best wishes, Pete.

Hey if you cant enjoy a good grumble then something is not right with the world, I fully understand and agree with your views, but I refuse to let the nasty capatilist and corporate geedy B%&tards ruin my fun 🙂

Not sure, but once the evenings get shorter, my dark side tends to come out to play. I hate the commercialization of Samhain, but its a traditional celebration here in Ireland which I love. The spooky stuff in my mind is just a bit of fun which adds to the celebration 🙂

Thanks Cybele, Stoker was a big influence as a kid, introduced me to the wonderful world of gothic horror. But he wasn’t the first Irish writer to include vampires, any idea who the first was? I’m morning on a post about them for later in the month😊

Hi there from across the pond! I wanted to know if you were thinking black and white photos or can they be color and special effects too? I have one of an urban legend near where I live in Virginia in the U.S. that I would love to share.

There is finally something that I can do with my ‘ghost dog’ from the Louisville Sanatorium; an old TB hospital. Yep, only me. I get a picture of a ghost dog. LOL. The original photo is black, but when I changed the hue … I had this little face staring back at me.

What a fabulous idea! Wish I had some pictures of the WWII era barracks I lived in in Germany for a while, It had been the infirmary when the kaserne had served as an SS installation/satellite of Dachau during the war and it was the most unsettling place I ever had the misfortune of having to live in (briefly). All torn down now that the US Army has left Bavaria.

Another idea that will haunt bloggers until they participate.
(Blame the Americanization of Halloween on Hallmark, the party stores, big costly Haunted Houses, and costume merchants. It’s morphed into something unrecognizable here. Sadly commercial and much less fun)
The night has deep world roots, though. Will have to see what I can dig up ( the light hearted Halloween post today shows a bit of the americanization of the holiday, Holler-Ring, much to the disgust of the resident cat)